Reading in 15 minutes a day

CAN YOU SPARE 15 minutes a day for 30 days? If so, Junior Skill Builders: Reading in 15 Minutes a Day can help you improve your reading comprehension skills. Just what is reading comprehension? Here’s a clue: Understanding is a synonym for comprehension. So, as I’m sure you figured out,

Junior Skill Builders

Copyright © 2008 LearningExpress, LLC.

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American CopyrightConventions

Published in the United States by LearningExpress, LLC, New York

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:

Junior skill builders : reading in 15 minutes a day

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ISBN: 978-1-57685-661-1

1 Reading (Middle school) 2 Reading (Secondary) 3 Englishlanguage—Grammar—Study and teaching (Middle school) 4 Englishlanguage—Grammar—Study and teaching (Secondary) I LearningExpress(Organization) II Title: Reading in 15 minutes a day

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Printed in the United States of America

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1First Edition

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Introduction 1

S E C T I O N 1 : B U I L D Y O U R V O C A B U L A R Y 1 7

• Don’t be fooled by words with more than one meaning

• The difference between a homophone and a homograph

• Using words that mean the same or mean the opposite

• Get clues about a word’s meaning from its parts

• Don’t be thrown by technical terms and subject-matter vocabulary

• Find the meaning of unknown words from hints in the text

• Know what a word implies as well as what it really means

i v c o n t e n t s

S E C T I O N 2 : V A R I E T Y I N R E A D I N G 7 5

• How do you know if something’s fiction or not?

• Why did the author write this selection anyway?

• How does what authors say and how they say it make you feel?

• What information can you get from headings, subheads, and captions?

• What information can you get from graphs, maps, and other visuals?

S E C T I O N 3 : O R G A N I Z A T I O N O F T E X T 1 1 7

• What’s a selection all about? Are there enough facts to backthat idea?

• Follow things as they happen, from beginning to end

• What makes something happen? What effect can one thinghave on another?

• How are people, places, and events alike? How are they different?

• What can the author prove to be true? What are simply his orher personal beliefs?

• The author asks you a question, and then you find the answer

• The author states what’s wrong and suggests how to fix it

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c o n t e n t s v

• Learn to make good guesses so you can predict what’llhappen next

• Weigh all the evidence, and then make a decision

• Retell only the most important parts of what you read

S E C T I O N 4 : E L E M E N T S O F L I T E R A T U R E : T H E F A C T S 1 9 9

A B O U T F I C T I O N

• Who’s the story about?

• Where does the story take place?

• Follow a story’s ups and downs on the path of happily ever after

• Who’s telling this story anyway?

• What’s the message or lesson the author wants me to learn?

• Use your senses to get “into” the story

• Thinking about the past

• Warning readers about what might happen in the future

Lesson 29: Figurative Language: Idiom, Personification, Hyperbole 251

• Words don’t always mean what they say

• Objects can be characters, too

• Making things bigger than life

Lesson 30: Figurative Language: Similes and Metaphors 259

• Compare things that are different, in very interesting ways

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CAN YOU SPARE 15 minutes a day for 30 days? If so, Junior Skill Builders: Reading in 15 Minutes a Day can help you improve your reading comprehen-

sion skills

Just what is reading comprehension? Here’s a clue: Understanding is a synonym for comprehension So, as I’m sure you figured out, reading comprehen- sion means, “understanding what you read.” Not everyone does, you know If

you ask some people to tell you about a book or article they read, they often say,

“I’m not really sure—I didn’t get it!” Well, this book will help you definitely “getit” every time you read, whether it’s an ad or a full-length novel!

T H E B O O K AT A G L A N C E

What’s in the book? First, there’s this introduction, in which you’ll discoversome things good readers do to get more out of what they read Next, there’s a

2 i n t r o d u c t i o n

pretest that lets you find out what you already know about the topics in thebook’s lessons—you may be surprised by how much you already know Then,there are 30 lessons After the last one, there’s a posttest Take it to reveal howmuch you’ve learned and improved your skills!

The lessons are divided into four sections:

1 Build Your Vocabulary:The Wonder of Words

Figuring out the meaning of unknown words

2 Variety in Reading:What’s to Read?

Recognizing the characteristics of different kinds, or genres, ofwriting

3 Organization of Text:Putting the Words Together

Identifying various text structures an author can use to presentideas

4 Elements of Literature:The Facts about Fiction

Understanding the basics and other devices authors use to makestories more interesting

Each section has a series of lessons Each lesson explains one comprehensionskill, then presents reading selections and questions so that you can practicethat skill

B E C O M E A N AC T I V E R E A D E R

Active readers are people who “get it.” They really understand what an author

is thinking, saying, and trying to get across in the text Here are a few thingsactive readers do As you read this list of some things active readers do, you maydiscover that you’re already one!

1 Previewwhat you are about to read

Read the selection title and look over any pictures and captions

Skim the text Ask yourself: What did the author think was important enough to show in a picture? Why did the author choose to put that word

in boldface, or darker, text?

2 Predictwhat the selection will be about

What do you think the selection is about? Write your prediction on

a sticky note and attach it to the selection As you read, look forinformation to confirm your prediction

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i n t r o d u c t i o n 3

3 Set a purposefor reading

Ask yourself: Why am I planning to read this? What do I want to get from it? Maybe it’s assigned reading for class and you want to find

facts so you can answer questions Maybe you need to read tions that tell you how to do something Or maybe you just want

direc-to read for enjoyment Knowing why you’re reading can help you

get what you want from the text

4 Askquestions to guide your reading

Ask some 5Ws and an H question: Who? What? When? Where? Why? and How? For example: Where do the characters live? Why did they choose to do what they just did? As you read, look for answers.

They might be right there, explained in the text Or you might have

to put details from the text together to figure out the answer toyour question

5 Notewhat’s important

As you read, highlight or underline key words and ideas Ask

yourself: Is this word or detail really important or is it just kind of esting? Make sure you identify and highlight or underline only the

inter-most important ones And write your personal reactions to whatyou read in the margins or on sticky notes by the text How youreact to what you read is very important

6 Clearthe way

As you read, stop if you’re confused Circle unfamiliar words orphrases, then reread the text That may make the meaning clear If

it doesn’t, check nearby words and pictures for clues to the ing And tap into your own personal knowledge Ask yourself:

mean-Have I ever read anything else about this subject before? Do I know a word

or phrase that means about the same thing? Try that word or phrase

in the text to see if it makes sense If you’re still confused, just read

on Maybe you’ll find the answer there!

7 Askquestions to understand the author

Try to figure out how the author thinks and what he or she is

try-ing to communicate to you Ask questions like: Did the author write this to inform me, entertain me, or persuade me to do something?

Is the writing funny, sad, friendly, scary, or serious? Why did the author choose this particular word to describe the character? Why did the author have the character react like that? Does the author tell both sides of the story?

4 i n t r o d u c t i o n

8 Return, review, and reword

When you finish reading, review your sticky notes and lighted or underlined text This will quickly remind you not only

high-of the most important ideas, but also high-of how those ideas are nected Finally, state what the selection is about in your ownwords

con-Each of these points is covered again later in the book But for now, practice being

an active reader as you take the pretest that follows!

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THIS PRETEST HAS30 multiple-choice questions about topics covered in thebook’s 30 lessons Find out how much you already know about the topics;then, you’ll discover what you still need to learn Read each question carefully.Circle your answers in the book if the book belongs to you If it doesn’t, writethe numbers 1–30 on a paper and record your answers there.

When you finish the test, check the answers on page 16 Don’t worry if youdidn’t get all the answers right If you did, you wouldn’t need this book! If you

do have an incorrect answer, check the number of the lesson(s) listed with theright answer That’s where you’ll find more about that skill

If you get a lot of questions right, you can probably spend less time usingthis book If you get a lot wrong, you may need to spend a few more minutes aday to really improve your reading comprehension

6 p r e t e s t

F I R S T P E O P L E S O F T H E N O R T H E A S T

Read the selection, and then answer the questions that follow

(1) About 10,000 years ago, the first hunter-gatherers arrived on the east coast

of what is now the United States They found forest-covered mountainsand valleys, and hundreds of streams and lakes—natural resources thatcould meet their needs

Us i n g R e s o u rc e s

(2) The trees provided supplies for building Forest and water animals, and nutsand berries on land, provided food People used the soil and water to grow

their own food They planted corn, or maize, and pumpkin, squash, and

beans Summer sun and rain made the crops thrive Soon people didn’t need

to be constantly on the move in search of food So they settled down andbuilt permanent homes

(3) Villages of dome-shaped wigwams sprang up near lakes and streams.Each wigwam was made by first sticking thin, bendable trees into theground to form a circle Next, the poles were bent inward and tiedtogether at the top More thin branches were wrapped and tied aroundthe poles, leaving space for a door and a smoke hole above the center,where an indoor fire would be Finally, the whole structure was coveredwith tree bark

(4) The men also built a larger, rectangular, council house and a lodge to usefor ceremonies Then they built a stockade around the whole village Thefence helped protect the villagers from enemy attack

E ve r yo n e Wo r ks

(5) Most of the year, the men hunted in swiftly moving birch-bark canoes But

in winter, the hunters needed sleds and snowshoes to get across the snowyground The women raised and prepared the food, even tapping mapletrees for the sweet syrup They made deerskin clothing, adding coloredporcupine-quill designs, and pottery jars for cooking and storing food

(6) After the fall harvest, everyone helped prepare for winter They dried thecrops, and meat and fish from the hunt, in the sun Then they hung themfrom the ceilings of their wigwams or stored them in underground pits.Young and old worked together to assure there would be enough food tolast until spring

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p r e t e s t 7

1.The author probably wrote this to

a. inform readers about early settlers on the east coast

b. teach readers how to make a wigwam

c. entertain readers with a scary tale

d. persuade readers to visit New England

2.Which text feature does the author use to divide the article into sections?

4.The people were able to settle down and build homes because

a. they had modern tools to help them

b. they didn’t need to keep moving in search of food

c. there were not too many rocks in the region

d. they could travel across the ocean by boat

5.The author organizes the ideas in this article by

a. telling a problem and suggesting solutions

b. ranking ideas in the order of their importance

c. the chronological order in which things happened

d. comparing and contrasting things

A C O N T E S T O F S T R E N GT H

A n Ae s o p ’s Fa b l e R e t o l d

Read the story, and then answer the questions that follow

(1) Wind and Sun were both important weather makers, but each thought hewas more powerful than the other was Wind argued that his great strengthmade him more powerful Sun argued that the ability to persuade gave himgreater power

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(2) “Let’s have a contest to prove who’s more powerful!” suggested Windboastfully Far below, he saw a man in a warm, winter coat walking alongthe road “Whoever can make that man take off his coat will be morepowerful,” said Wind with a smile “I’ll go first.”

(3) Now Wind knew that when he blew, leaves flew through the air and treesbent It should be easy to blow a man’s coat off! So Wind blew, gently atfirst, then harder and harder But the harder he blew, the more the shiver-ing man pulled his coat around him!

(4) “My turn,” said Sun, and he began to send warm rays toward the manbelow Soon the man unbuttoned his coat Sun glowed brighter and theman became uncomfortable in the heat Before long, he took off the coat!

(5) Wind sighed “I guess you win You’re more powerful.”

(6) Sun just beamed And all day he was as busy as a bee, lighting the sky until

it was time for Moon to take over!

6.The theme of this fable is

a. “Everyone has some kind of strength.”

b. “Don’t count your chickens before they hatch.”

c. “Don’t cry over spilt milk.”

d. “Gentle persuasion is better than force.”

7.Which human characteristics did the writer NOT give Wind or Sun?

a. the ability to smile

b. the ability to walk

c. the ability to talk

d. the ability to laugh

8.The phrase busy as a bee is an example of a

b. the noun coat.

c. the pronoun he.

d. the verb blew.

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11.You can infer that when Sun just beamed at the end of the story,

a. he knew he was better than Moon

b. he felt he didn’t have to say anything because he’d won

c. he didn’t want to hurt the man’s feelings

d. he wanted to keep the bees warm

12.What is the main conflict in the story?

a. Sun wants Moon to light the sky

b. Wind wants to make a big tree bend

c. The man doesn’t know which way to go on the road

d. The Wind and Sun need to get the man’s coat off

W I L D H O R S E S

Read the poem, and then answer the questions that follow

Proudly he runs freeThrough the grasses growing high,Then suddenly catches a sound

On the wind that’s passing by

He knows that sound means danger,

So he neighs a resonant cry

To warn the other wild onesWho are grazing there nearby

Then off they all go racing,Their hooves beating the ground,And all that I can hear

Is a rumbling, thundering sound!

13.You can tell this is a poem because it has

a. words that describe action

b. information about horses

c. a rhyme scheme

d. lines for actors to say

Read the story, and then answer the questions that follow.

(1) “I don’t get it, Pete,” Janet said to her cousin “Why do you fish at Murphy’sPond if old Mrs Murphy is a witch?”

(2) “The fishing’s great and the old Murphy house is over a hill behind thepond,” Pete replied “We’ll be okay as long as we stay away from thehouse,” he continued in a hushed voice “They say kids who go into thathouse are never seen again!”

(3) After they got to the pond, witches were forgotten Pete sat on the old dockand threw out his line Suddenly Janet saw something shimmering in thewater and leaned over for a closer look The rotting wood of the dock brokeunder her! “H-e-l-l-p!” she screamed as she splashed down into the dark,cold water

(4) Pete jumped in to help her “Quiet down!” he panted as they got to therocky shore “You’re not hurt If you keep hollering, you’ll wake thewitch!” Then he yelped, “OUCH-H-H!” and lifted his foot There was adeep cut on the bottom of his foot from a sharp rock!

(5) “Oh, Pete, you’re hurt!” Janet cried “I’ll go for ” But before she couldsay Help, she saw an old woman coming toward them Without a word,the woman picked up Pete and carried him up the hill A cold, wet, andconfused Janet followed She was frightened but had a strange feeling theold woman meant no harm

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p r e t e s t 1 1

(6) At the top of the hill, the woman walked toward an old house “Oh, p-p-please, Ma’am,” a frightened Pete begged “Please don’t go there.That’s where the w-w-witch lives!”

(7) “That is my home, young man,” the woman said softly “Do not be afraid.”

At the front door, she said to Janet “Please open the door.” Janet did, andthe three went inside Mrs Murphy gently put Pete on a couch, then dis-appeared into another room

(8) Mrs Murphy returned with warm blankets, which she wrapped aroundthe two cold and wet cousins Then she carefully cleaned and bandagedPete’s foot The still-frightened boy squeezed his eyes shut every time shecame near him Finally, she offered Pete and Janet some freshly baked breadand glasses of milk They began to understand that Mrs Murphy was avery kind but very lonely woman

(9) Pete reached out and touched Mrs Murphy’s hand “I’m Pete, and this is

my cousin, Janet,” he said “Thank you for helping us.”

(10) Mrs Murphy smiled shyly She seemed to enjoy their company but said

sadly, “You’d best be on your way It’s getting late.”

(11) Before they left, Mrs Murphy reminded Pete to have a doctor check the cut

and they promised to return to see her another day She waved good-byeuntil they were out of sight “Oh, Pete, she’s so nice!” said Janet “Howcould you have thought she was a witch?”

(12) Pete smiled as he hobbled along beside her “Well, she still might be,” he

said, and as Janet gasped, he added, “but she’d be the good kind!”

16.Which words from the text are NOT an example of foreshadowing?

a. “We’ll be okay as long as we stay away from the house.”

b. Pete stood on the old dock and threw out his line

c. Janet saw something shimmering in the water

d. “If you keep hollering, you’ll wake the witch!”

17.Which homophones were in the story?

a. witch and which

b. threw and through

c. seen and scene

d. there and their

1 2 p r e t e s t

18.Which was NOT part of the story’s plot?

a. Pete and Janet go to Murphy’s Pond

b. Janet falls into the water

c. Mrs Murphy drives Pete and Janet home

d. Pete and Janet both get wet

19.This selection is an example of

a. fiction

b. poetry

c. nonfiction

d. drama

20.A story has to include a setting because

a. without a setting, there would be no characters

b. the story would be too short

c. the reader needs to know when and where the story takes place

d. the author needs to tell who the main character is

21.What is the main tone of the selection?

a. silly

b. exciting

c. mocking

d. whimsical

22.The most likely conclusion you can draw from the story is that

a. there are witches living near Murphy’s Pond

b. the author was once frightened by a witch

c. witches don’t like young people

d. just because someone tells you something doesn’t make it true

A C L A S S AC T

Read the selection, and then answer the questions that follow

(1) First of all, let me start by saying that even though I had to recite an inal poem in front of the class Tuesday, I was cool well, pretty cool about

orig-it On Monday night my little sister said, “I hate talking in front of the class.Aren’t you scared?”

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p r e t e s t 1 3

(2) “I have no trepidation!” I had replied, matter-of-factly I love using bigwords with her because I know she’ll run to look them up in the dictionary,

so it’s a win-win situation I get rid of her and she gets a bigger vocabulary,

like finding out that trepidation means “fear.”

(3) Tuesday morning, Mom fixed my favorite breakfast: pancakes She flipped

a few golden-brown circles off the griddle with a spatula and stackedthem on my plate As usual, I took a big bite And as usual, sticky syrupdripped off the pancakes and onto my clean shirt

(4) “Oh, you are such a pig,” my sister mumbled as she rolled her eyes at me

(5) “It’s okay, Honey, you’re probably just nervous about your poem,” saidMom sympathetically

(6) I didn’t answer either one of them; I just raced to my room for a clean shirt!

I wanted to look my best I barely made it out the door before the bus pulled

away! What a start to my day, I thought Let’s hope things get better.

(7) Well, to make a long story short, I did recite my original poem that ing, but with a bit of trepidation The kid who read his poem ahead of mewas really good, I mean, he really knew how to put words together onpaper and read them with meaning! Then it was my turn As I stood up,

morn-my BFF Pat whispered, “You’ll be great!” And you know what? I kind ofwas! I even surprised myself Our teacher, Mr Briggs, videotaped the pre-sentations and played them back so we could evaluate our work, and I wasgood I mean really good As I went out the door at the end of class, Mr.Briggs even stopped me and said, “Hope you’re trying out for the schoolplay this spring It’s Shakespeare I’m directing and I think you’d be a reallygood actor The auditions will be in three weeks.”

(8) So, I went to the auditions and well, that’s another story Let’s just say

I am now a thespian!

23.To help readers know that thespian means “actor,” the author uses context

clues like

a. poem and presentation.

b. play and audition.

c. trepidation and teacher.

d. syrup and recite.

1 4 p r e t e s t

24.Which antonym pair is NOT used in the selection?

a. short and long

b. clean and dirty

c. up and down

d. front and back

25.The denotation of pig is “a four-legged, young swine.” In this selection, the connotation of pig is

a. “a really smart person.”

b. “a dirty, messy person.”

c. “a shy, sweet person.”

d. “a helpful, kind person.”

26.With which topic would you most likely use the term spatula?

a. medicine

b. airplanes

c. cooking

d. geography

27.Which is the best one-sentence summary for this story?

a. The narrator teaches a younger sibling some new words

b. The narrator is preparing to read an original poem aloud

c. The narrator is invited to be in the school play because of a goodpoetry presentation

d. The narrator helps the teacher direct the school play

T H E H I G H P O I N T S O F L I F E O N E A R T H

Read the article and the chart, and then answer the questions that follow

(1) Mountains make up one-fourth of Earth’s surface But what exactly is amountain? Scientifically speaking, it’s a land formation at an altitude of atleast 2,000 feet above its surroundings

(2) Mountains come in various heights One mountain may look like a dwarfcompared to Africa’s Mt Kilimanjaro But that looks small compared toAsia’s giant Mt Everest Each of Earth’s seven continents has a high pointcalled the “Seven Summits.”

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p r e t e s t 1 5

28.What data does the chart show?

a. cities where mountain peaks are found

b. when each mountain peak was discovered

c. heights of all mountains in the Alps

d. the names and heights of the Seven Summits

29.The first sentence is a fact, not an opinion because

a. it mentions Earth, and Earth is real

b. it is short

c. you can check it to prove it is true

d. it’s what the author thinks

30.Which is the main idea of this article?

a. Mountains are found everywhere in the world, except in Australia

b. To be a mountain, land must be 2,000 feet higher than the surroundingarea

c. The world’s highest mountain is in the United States

d. Earth’s mountains can be seen from outer space

T H E WO N D E R O F WO R D S

As you read, you have to think about what all the words and groups of wordsmean And sometimes you come across a word you don’t know What does itmean? You need to figure out the meaning so you can understand what theauthor’s trying to tell you And you want to know what it means so you can add

it to your vocabulary for future use! So what can you do? Well, you could look

up the word in a dictionary Or you could ask someone to tell you what it means.But you become a better and more active reader when you figure it out for your-self In this section of the book, you’ll discover how you can do that by

• identifying words that have more than one meaning

• distinguishing between words that sound alike but have differentmeanings

• recognizing words that mean the same or the opposite

• distinguishing between word parts

• recognizing technical terms and jargon used by special groups

• locating and using context clues

• distinguishing between what a word means and what it suggests

1

build your vocabulary

YOU MAY ALREADYknow many words that have two or more meanings The

words are called homonyms, from the Greek for “same name.” For example, the

word fly is a noun that means “a small insect.”

Example

A pesky fly kept buzzing by my ear!

But fly can also be a verb that means “to move through the air with wings.”

Example

My brother likes to design and fly paper airplanes.

So which meaning does this author use in the following quote? “I wonder

what they’re talking about in that room? Boy, I wish I were a fly on the wall!”

You probably figured it out The writer wants to be a tiny insect that ple wouldn’t notice as it listened to their private conversation!

multiple-meaning words

V INZINNI : Inconceivable!

I NIGO : You keep using that word I do not think

it means what you think it means.

WILLIAMGOLDMAN(1931– ),

NOVELIST, SCREENWRITER, “THEPRINCESSBRIDE”

In this lesson, you’ll discover that some words can mean more than one thing it’s up to you to figure out which meaning an author is using

2 0 b u i l d y o u r v o c a b u l a r y

Here are just a few more familiar multiple-meaning words

P R AC T I C E 1 : A DAY AT T H E PA R K

Read the selection, and then answer the questions that follow

(1) It’s a lazy Saturday I’m happy just hanging out doing nothing Then mylittle brother runs into my room and announces, “We’re going to the park!”

(2) “Have fun,” I reply

(3) “No! Get up and get ready!” he whines, and pulls my arm “Dad said we’regoing to make a day of it the whole family!”

(4) Dad drops us off by the park entrance and goes to park the car I help Momunload the picnic basket onto a table She’s packed a huge covered plate

of sandwiches, a bowl of fruit, bags of chips, lots of cookies, and a tic pitcher of iced tea Mom always makes extra “just in case ,” what-ever that means!

gigan-(5) “Before we eat, will you help me fly my new kite?” pleads my brother With

a sigh, I take his hand and lead him to a good spot for flying kites Soonthe kite’s airborne and looping through the sky! Suddenly, it’s harder tospot because it floats behind a tree

(6) “Is it lost forever?” asks my brother

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m u l t i p l e - m e a n i n g w o r d s 2 1

(7) “No, just hiding There see it’s back!” I chuckle as the kite pops backinto view

(8) “Dude!” I hear someone behind me say “Just the guy I was looking for!”

I turn to find Chris, one of my best friends

(9) “I thought you went to visit your uncle this weekend!” I say

(10) “No, he had to go away on business, so I’ll catch him another time,” Chris

replies “Nice kite,” he adds, “but I was hoping to play ball today.”

(11) “I’m in,” I answer “We’re about to stop My brother wants Dad to push him

on a swing.”

(12) So we find more friends to play ball Suddenly, it’s the last inning, the game

is tied, and I’m at bat I see Mom waving me to come for lunch, so there’s

nothing to do but hit a homer! I swing, hear the crack of the bat, and head

for home plate Then I invite the other kids to join us for lunch ing Mom had made extra! I guess this was the “just in case!”

know-1.What is the meaning of the word park as used in the first paragraph?

a. leave a car in a parking lot

c. marker for a base

d. coat with metal

3.Which of the following words from paragraph 5 is a multiple-meaningword?

a. pleads

b. spot

c. kite

d. before

4.The meaning of back as used in paragraph 7 is

a. “a piece connected to the seat of a chair.”

b. “the opposite of front.”

c. “to return.”

d. “to sponsor or give money to.”

P R AC T I C E 2 : C R O S S I N G OV E R

Read the selection, and then answer the questions that follow

(1) Have you ever thought about how important a bridge is? After all, out bridges, how would people get across rivers and wide gorges? Bridgesare an essential part of our transportation system for moving people andgoods

with-(2) The first bridges were simply trees that fell or were placed across water orcanyons The wood was strong enough to bear the weight of a person ortwo at a time, but not for carrying heavy loads People made bridges bystretching rope cables across an open area In China and other places,rope bridges are still used They’re strong enough to hold people andpack animals with light loads

(3) Later, people built arch bridges by wedging together large blocks of stone toform a half circle Arch bridges are among the strongest and longest-lasting:Some built more than 1,500 years ago are still being used, Even today, peo-ple build arch bridges, but usually from concrete, wood, or steel

(4) Another kind of bridge is the cantilever It has two independent steel orconcrete beams, one extending toward the center of a river from eachbank A third beam is lifted up to connect the beams Canada’s QuebecBridge is one of the world’s longest, spanning 1,800 feet (549 m) across the

St Lawrence River

(5) A suspension bridge spans even more space with its roadway hangingfrom steel cables supported by massive towers Each cable can hold thou-sands of pounds of weight Probably the most familiar suspension bridge

is California’s Golden Gate, with a main span of 4,200 feet (1,280 m).When completed in 1937, it was the world’s longest, but in 1964, NewYork’s Verrazano-Narrows Bridge beat that with a span of 4,260 feet

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m u l t i p l e - m e a n i n g w o r d s 2 3

(1,298 m) Then in 1981, England’s Humber Bridge beat that with a span

of 4,626 feet (1,410 m) And since 1998, Japan’s Akashi-Kaikyo Bridge hasheld the record, with a span of 1,991 feet (6,529 m) Will that record bebeaten? Stay tuned!

6.What is the meaning of the word bridge as used in the article?

a. the upper bony part of the nose

b. the part of a ship where the captain works

c. a card game

d. pathway structure over a river or valley

7.Which is NOT a meaning of bear as used in the story?

a. hold

b. carry

c. furry mammal

d. support

8.What is the meaning of the word beam as used in the article?

a. long piece of heavy wood or metal used in construction

b. width of a ship at its widest part

2 4 b u i l d y o u r v o c a b u l a r y

P R AC T I C E 3 : M A K I N G T H I N G S M OV E

Read this selection, and then answer the questions that follow

(1) Did you know that whatever you do, forces are at work on you? That’s

right Forces keep your feet on the ground when you stand Forces keep you

sitting on a chair without slipping off And a force guarantees that if youjump up, you’re going to come down! Without forces you couldn’t hold a

pen to write, no matter whether you use your right or left! In the world of forces, things spin, stretch, twist, and fly, but only if something or some-

one applies a push or pull!

(2) Here on Earth, gravity pulls anything at or near the surface toward the ter of the planet Things have weight because of gravity’s pull The greater

cen-the pull, cen-the more an object weighs We use scales to measure weight When you step on a scale, the numbers tell how much force Earth’s grav-

ity is pulling between you and the planet itself

12.What is the meaning of the word pen as used in the first paragraph?

14.Which is the meaning of scales as used in the passage?

a. hard pieces that cover an animal’s body

b. climbs a steep, rocky hill

c. machines for weighing things

d. draws in relative proportion

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5.Here are sample sentences:

I’m in a play./Please play that song again

The prince danced at the ball./I hit the ball

Fill the pitcher with cream./He’s a baseball pitcher

She tied the bow./The score is tied

I bat left-handed./The bat flew away

Sit on this swing./Swing your arms like this

My head hurts./Let’s head home

IN LESSON 1, you identified homonyms that sounded and were spelled alike,

but had different meanings In this lesson, you’ll find homophones (“same sound”) and homographs (“same writing”).

Homophones sound the same but are spelled differently and have

differ-ent meanings As you read, don’t let the homophones confuse you

Examples

sees, seas, seizefor, four, forethrough, threwtoe, tow

Homographs are spelled the same but are pronounced differently and have

different meanings As you read, you need to figure out which pronunciationand meaning is used The rest of the sentence usually lets you know

words that sound or look alike

In the theatre, you can be seen or in a scene,

but don’t confuse your objective!

S A CONSODINE(1931– )

AMERICAN PLAYWRIGHT, ACTRESS, DIRECTOR

In this lesson, you’ll discover that some words are pronounced the same but spelled differently and have different meanings, and some words are spelled the

same but pronounced differently and have different meanings

2 8 b u i l d y o u r v o c a b u l a r y

Examples

The wind is blowing! Wind the balloon string around your finger.

In the apartment where I live, they don’t allow live animals.

Separate your laundry Put dark and light clothes in separate piles.

P R AC T I C E 1 : A L O N G J O U R N E Y

Read the selection, and then answer the questions that follow

(1) Dull Knife, a leader of the Cheyenne, was born in Montana His real name was Morning Star He got his nickname when his knife failed to break through his enemy’s tough, buffalo-hide armor.

(2) In 1876, the Cheyenne helped defeat General Custer and his U.S troops.

Other soldiers pursued the Cheyenne, and a year later, the Native

Amer-icans surrendered They were sent to a reservation in Oklahoma, where the army promised there was a herd of buffalo for hunting There wasn’t, and many Cheyenne died of starvation.

(3) Dull Knife asked permission to take his people home But the army took over a year to “think it over,” and more Cheyenne died Dull Knife knew he had to rebel So the rebel leader and 300 of his people escaped from the reser- vation and headed for Montana, 1,000 miles away When they crossed into Nebraska, soldiers there ordered Dull Knife and his people to return to the Oklahoma reservation Dull Knife refused “I will never go back, “he said.

“You may kill me here, but you cannot make me go back!”

(4) The soldiers wondered why Dull Knife would resent being resent, or sent back

to Oklahoma They tried to force him to agree to go They threw him and his people into a freezing building with no food or water for three days But the Cheyenne would not give up Instead, they climbed out windows and

escaped!

(5) The soldiers chased the Cheyenne Some were killed or captured, but some escaped, including Dull Knife and his family They walked for 18 days, with only tree bark and their own moccasins to eat! At last, they reached Mon- tana, where sympathetic settlers had heard what the Cheyenne did to sur- vive The people asked the government to set up a new Cheyenne reservation in Montana Many Cheyenne still live there today.

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2.Which homonym set was NOT used in the article?

a. knew and new

b. threw and through

c. died and dyed

d. herd and heard

3.What’s the meaning of the homophone real as used in the article?

3 0 b u i l d y o u r v o c a b u l a r y

P R AC T I C E 2 : T H E L A N D D OW N U N D E R

Read the selection, and then answer the questions that follow

(1) Where do baby kangaroos come from? Australia, of course! That’s where

you’ll find animal species not native to any other part of the world, like thekoala, platypus, and kangaroo

(2) Scientists say that about 600 million years ago, what we now know as Antarctica, South America, Africa, India, and Australia formed one huge

continent called Gondwanaland It was populated with dinosaurs and thefirst mammals—monotremes and marsupials Monotremes, like the platy-

pus, lay eggs from which their offspring hatch Marsupials, like the garoo, produce offspring that develop in a pouch outside their mothers’

kan-bodies

(3) Kangaroos are the largest marsupials Males are called boomers, females

does, and all babies are called joeys What does the average kangaroo look like? Most adults are about 6 feet (1.8 m) tall and weigh about 100 pounds (45 kg) They have large hind feet, strong hind legs, and a tail measuring

3 feet (.9 m) or longer A kangaroo uses its heavy tail for balance and to prop

itself up when sitting or fighting, when it kicks the enemy with both hind

feet! Normally kangaroos are quadrupeds—they use all four feet to walk Even their short front limbs, like arms, help them move But the animals stand on two feet when they want to move quickly They can hop up to 40 miles (64 km) per hour over short distances and leap over 30 feet (9.2 m) in

a single bound!

(4) About 130 million years ago, Gondwanaland broke apart and Australiawas cut off from the rest of the world Marsupials and monotremes still

flourished there But elsewhere, newer species of mammals appeared that

gave birth to fully developed young That’s why you won’t find kangaroos

hopping across present day Antarctica!

7.As used in the article, which is the best meaning of the homograph

11.Which homonym set was used in the article?

a. way and weigh

b. four and for

c. our and hour

d. tail and tale

12.Rewrite this sentence by replacing each underlined word with the correcthomophone:

What wee now no as Antarctica, South America, Africa, India, and Australia awl together formed won huge continent called

Gondwanaland

3 2 b u i l d y o u r v o c a b u l a r y

P R AC T I C E 3 : W H AT C A N W E H E A R H E R E ?

Read this rhyme, and then answer the questions that follow

I went down by the sea, to find out what I could see, With four fine friends for company,

We started down a stair, but all stopped to stare

At a frog and a striped bass that we saw sitting there! The frog played a trumpet; the fish strummed a bass,

And each of them had a big smile on his face!

They finished their song, took a bow and turned to go,

As a turtle gave them flowers all tied up with a bow!

“Now what kind of conduct is this?” asked I,

“To conduct a concert where people need to pass by?”

“Oh, we only play here after the tide has come in,”

Said the horn-playing frog with a large froggy grin

“Come up the beach now, over near that beech tree And you’ll hear some jazz that’s as cool as can be!”

So we listened to their music and joined them in dance,You should really go hear them, if you have the chance!

13.The first homophone in line 3 means

a. look at

b. step

c. rip apart

d. beach

a. wear, where, ware

b. by, buy, bye

c. tide, tied, teid

d. so, sew, sow

15.The homograph bass that rhymes with face means